Tulsa On The Road For New Year's Eve Matchup at Tulane

GAME #14 ... TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (8-5, 1-0) vs. TULANE GREEN WAVE (10-3, 1-0)
Date/Time:	Sunday • Dec. 31 • 1 p.m.
Site:	Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse (4,000) • New Orleans, La.
Coaches:	Tulsa – Frank Haith (Elon '88), 4th year Tulane – Mike Dunleavy, Sr. (South Carolina, '76), 2nd year
TV:	ESPN3 (Tim Grubbs and Victor Howell)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM (Bruce Howard and J.R. Rollo)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads, 16-3
Twitter:	@TUMBasketball \| @TulsaHurricane
Instagram:	TulsaMBasketball
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Tulane

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa will close out the calendar year when it travels south to New Orleans for a 1 p.m. matchup at Tulane on Sunday, Dec. 31.

Fresh off a 79-53 rout of ECU on Thursday in its American Athletic Conference opener, the Golden Hurricane (8-5, 1-0) will look to remain unbeaten in league action. Junior Etou led the way with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against the Pirates, while Lawson Korita tied a career-high with 12 points and Geno Artison set a new career-best with 10 points.

TU led by as much as 34 in the second half after a 29-4 run that put the game away. It was the team's fourth win in its last five games and the third time in four seasons that the Hurricane has started American Athletic Conference play with a victory.

Meanwhile, the Green Wave (10-3, 1-0) is coming off an 85-75 victory at Temple on Thursday evening in its league opener. Tulane comes into Sunday's game as winners of its last three games and the team needed just nine games to surpass last season's win total. Junior guard Melvin Frazier leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg, while guard/forward Cameron Reynolds checks in at 16.5 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per contest. The duo combined for 42 points against the Owls.

Sunday's game will mark the 25th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Tulane and the Golden Hurricane lead the series 18-6, including a 5-4 mark in New Orleans. Tulsa took two of the three meetings with the Green Wave last season.

Fast Break Points
• Tulsa is in its 107th season of basketball and fourth season in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa will close out the calendar year when it travels to New Orleans, La., for a 1 p.m. matchup at Tulane on Sunday, Dec. 31.
• TU leads the all-time series against the Green Wave, 18-6. The Hurricane owns a slim 5-4 edge in New Orleans.
• Tulsa is coming off a 79-53 win over ECU on Thursday in its American Athletic Conference opener. Junior Etou scored 20 points and added a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the Hurricane. Lawson Korita got his first start of the season and tied a career-high with 12 points, while Geno Artison had a career-best 10 points.
• Etou surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his Division I career in the win over ECU. The senior scored 372 points in two seasons at Rutgers and he has registered 639 points in 45 games (14.2 ppg) at TU to total 1,011 for his career.
• Etou leads the team at 18.2 ppg and 7.0 rpg and those marks rank second and eighth in The American, respectively. The senior also ranks sixth in the circuit with a .544 field goal percentage.
• Tulsa is shooting 45.9-percent from the floor, which ranks sixth in The American. TU has shot at least 45-percent in eight contests, including five games of at least 50-percent shooting.
• The Hurricane also rank fifth in the conference by averaging 76.2 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points seven times.
• After posting a -4.5 rebound margin through its first six games, TU has out-rebounded its opponent in five of its last six games for a +8.1 rebound margin. TU has outrebounded its opponent by double digits in three of those six games.
• TU has posted 35 league wins since joining The American, which ranks third behind only SMU (45) and Cincinnati (41) during that span.
• Tulsa was picked to finish eighth in The American Preseason Poll. TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in all three previous seasons under head coach Frank Haith.

Notes
The Game
• Tulsa will continue American Athletic Conference play at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, when it will head south to New Orleans for a matchup at Tulane.
• Sunday's game can be seen on ESPN3, while fans in the Tulsa area can tune to Big Country 99.5 FM with Bruce Howard and former Hurricane player J.R. Rollo calling the action. Live audio from the game also can be found on tulsahurricane.com or by using the TuneIn app.

The Series
• Sunday's game will mark the 25th all-time meeting between Tulsa and Tulane. The Golden Hurricane lead the series 18-6 and own a slim 5-4 margin in New Orleans.
• Tulsa took two of the three games against the Green Wave last season. Both teams won on their home floor and the Hurricane defeated Tulane 66-60 on March 9, 2017, in the opening round of The American Championship in Hartford, Conn.
• Tulsa has won nine of the last 10 matchups with Tulane.

Scouting the Green Wave
• Tulane comes into Sunday's game as winners of its last three games, including an 85-75 win at Temple on Thursday to open conference play. The team needed just nine games to surpass last season's win total.
• The Green Wave was picked to finish 10th in The American preseason poll. The squad returns nine letterwinners and three starters from last year's team, which went 6-25 overall and finished 10th in the league with a 3-15 mark.
• Junior guard Melvin Frazier leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg, while guard/forward Cameron Reynolds checks in at 16.5 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per contest. The duo combined for 42 points against the Owls.

Last Time Out
• Junior Etou registered his second double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and Tulsa went on a 29-4 run in the second half en route to a 79-53 win over ECU to open conference play on Thursday.
• Lawson Korita got his first start of the campaign and tied a career-high with 12 points, while Geno Artison added a career-best 10 points.
• TU opened The American play with a win for the third time in its four seasons in the league.
• The Hurricane held ECU to a season-low 31.8-percent shooting and improved to 6-1 at home.

Sharp Shooting
• TU is shooting 45.9-percent from the floor to rank sixth in the American Athletic Conference. The squad has shot better than 45-percent eight times, including at least 50-percent in five contests.
• Junior Etou ranks sixth in the league by shooting 54.4-percent (66-of-118) this season. In all, seven players are shooting better than 45-percent during the campaign.
• The team's hot shooting has helped the offense rank fifth in the circuit by averaging 76.2 ppg. TU has scored at least 78 points seven times this season.
• Freshman Elijah Joiner is shooting 44.4-percent behind the arc and is second on the team with 16 3-pointers made.

Trending
• Junior Etou has attempted at least 10 free throws four times this season. Etou ranks 10th in the nation with 104 free-throw attempts this season and 14th in the nation in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (7.9) via kenpom.com.
• After averaging 1.6 ppg in his first five games, Corey Henderson Jr. is averaging 11.6 ppg in his last eight contests.
• The Hurricane has allowed just one opponent to shoot better than 50-percent this season (Illinois State, Nov. 19). Tulane has shot 50-percent or better six times during the campaign and won all six games.

Crashing The Boards
• After being outrebounded in five of its first six games with a rebound margin of -4.5 rpg, Tulsa has crashed the glass and outrebounded its opponents by a combined 289-232 (41.3-33.1; +8.1 rpg) in its last seven contests.
• TU has outrebounded three opponents (UTSA, Illinois State, Kansas State) during that stretch by double-digits, including two games (UTSA, Illinois State) with a +20 rebound margin.
• During that stretch, Junior Etou has led the way by averaging 7.6 rebounds per game, including a career-high 14 boards against ECU (Dec. 28). Martins Igbanu also has helped crash the glass at 5.7 rpg.
• The Hurricane is 6-1 this season when outrebounding its opponent.

Free Fallin'
• Tulsa ranks sixth in The American with a 71.2-percent mark at the free-throw line.
• The Hurricane lead the league and rank 38th in the nation with 323 free throws attempted.
• TU has shot more free throws than its opponent 10 times this season and own a 7-3 record in those games.
• Junior Etou leads the conference and ranks 10th in the nation with 104 free throws attempted. His 73 makes at the charity stripe rank second in the league and 24th in the nation.

TU To Participate In Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge
• Making 3-point shots this basketball season takes on even more meaning this year for head coach Frank Haith and The University of Tulsa men's basketball team. The Golden Hurricane will square off against teams across the nation to fight cancer as part of the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge.
• Fans can pledge a donation for each 3-point shot that TU makes over the final 16 games of the regular-season (Jan. 3-March 4) to support American Cancer Society research, education and patient programs at:
pledgeit.org/cvc18-tulsa.
• Fans also have the option of a fixed donation and Haith started the Golden Hurricane campaign with a contribution of $500.

Haith In His Fourth Season at TU
• Head coach Frank Haith is in his fourth season at Tulsa, where he has compiled a 66-45 record and made a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure. Overall, he has an on-court record of 271-174 in his 14th season.
• Haith has led the Golden Hurricane to a pair of 20-win seasons and postseason appearances (2015 NCAA Tournament, 2016 NIT) during his first three seasons.
• With a win over No. 9 Wichita State in 2015-16, he led TU to its first win over a top-10 squad since 2000. Later that season, TU won at No. 16 SMU for its first road win against a top-16 program since 1981.

Haith in Exclusive Coaching Company
• Head coach Frank Haith is the only active Division I coach to take teams in four of the Power 6 conferences to the NCAA Tournament. Haith guided Tulsa (The American) to the Big Dance in 2015, Missouri (SEC) in 2013, Missouri (Big 12) in 2012 and Miami (ACC) in 2008.
• In addition, Haith is one of just 20 active coaches that have taken at least three different teams to the NCAA Tournament.
• Haith will face three other coaches on that list this season when TU matches up against Tubby Smith (Memphis), Kelvin Sampson (Houston) and Bruce Weber (Kansas State).

Tulsa's Success in The American
• Since joining the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2014-15 season, the Golden Hurricane has posted 35 league wins, which is the third-most in the circuit.
• Only SMU (44 wins) and Cincinnati (41 wins) have earned more victories than Tulsa's 35, which tops UConn (30) and Memphis (27) along with six other conference programs.
• TU has finished better than its preseason prediction in each of Haith's three seasons. The Golden Hurricane was picked to finish eighth in the conference prior to the 2017-18 season.

Etou Named Preseason Second-Team American Athletic Conference
• Senior forward Junior Etou was named preseason second-team American Athletic Conference in a vote by the league's head coaches.
• Last season, Etou led the Golden Hurricane in scoring (12.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) and was the only player to start all 32 games. He was even better in conference play as he averaged 13.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg.
• So far in 2017-18, Etou leads the Hurricane in scoring (18.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg). Those marks rank second and eighth in the conference, respectively.
• Etou has scored in double-figures 12 times, including six games of at least 20 points.

Look Who's Back
• Tulsa returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, and 72-percent of its offense from last season's team.
• Returning starters include senior forward Junior Etou (32 starts), sophomore forward Martins Igbanu (17), junior guard Sterling Taplin (30) and senior guard Jaleel Wheeler (29).
• Other returners include junior forward Geno Artison, senior guard Corey Henderson Jr., sophomore guard Lawson Korita and junior forward Alex Foree.
• In all, Tulsa returns 68.8-percent of its minutes, 66.9-percent of its rebounding, 79.8-percent of its assists and 65.5-percent of its steals.

New Faces
• Along with the eight returning letterwinners, Tulsa has five newcomers, four of which made their debut in the season opener against Lamar.
• The newcomers eligible for 2017-18 are sophomore guard Curran Scott, junior guard/forward DaQuan Jeffries, freshman guard Darien Jackson and freshman guard Elijah Joiner. Sophomore forward Jeriah Horne will sit out the season after transferring from Nebraska.
• Scott redshirted the 2016-17 season after transferring from Charlotte, where he averaged 10.3 ppg as a freshman in 2015-16. He practiced with the Golden Hurricane last season.
• TU's four newcomers have totaled 277 points (21.3 ppg), led by 99 points (7.6 ppg) from Curran Scott.

Tulsa Enters 20th Season at the Reynolds Center
• After hosting the first TU men's basketball game on Dec. 29, 1998, the Golden Hurricane will play its 20th season in the Donald W. Reynolds Center this year.
• Tulsa has posted an overall record of 232-71 (.768) in its 19+ seasons, including a 6-1 mark this season.
• The building has seen 41 sellouts and 1,815,560 fans have witnessed Tulsa basketball at the Reynolds Center.

Offense Shines In Exhibition Wins
• Tulsa improved to 66-2 all-time in exhibition games, including a run of 37 consecutive victories, with wins over Northwestern Oklahoma State (96-65) and Missouri S&T (113-56) prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
• TU put up impressive numbers in the wins as the team averaged 104.5 points and shot 56.6-percent from the floor, including 46.9-percent from behind the arc. Tulsa also recorded 46 assists to just 21 turnovers and out-rebounded its two opponents by a combined total of 99-46.
• Five players averaged in double-figures during exhibition play, led by Junior Etou's 17.0 ppg. Joining him were Corey Henderson Jr. (16.0 ppg), DaQuan Jeffries (12.5 ppg), Curran Scott (12.5 ppg) and Geno Artison (11.5 ppg).
• TU made 20 3-pointers in the win over Missouri S&T (the program's regular-season record for a game is 18), with half of that total coming from Henderson (6) and Artison (4).

TU Adds Three in the Early Signing Period
• Tulsa has signed three student-athletes — Chris Barnes, Peter Hewitt and Zeke Moore — to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period.
• All three signees are enrolled at junior colleges and will have three years of eligibility at TU.
• Barnes is a 6-foot-4 guard from Compton, Calif., who played his freshman season at UTEP. He appeared in 16 games for the Miners after earning all-conference honors as a senior at Compton HS. He is redshirting this season at Angelina College.
• Peter Hewitt is a 6-foot-10 forward from Mountain View, Calif., who redshirted last season at UC Davis. He currently plays for Las Positas College and he has helped the team average 84.2 ppg and start 10-4 this season. Hewitt was a three-year letterwinner at Saint Francis High School and led the Lancers to a pair of West Coast Athletic League titles.
• Zeke Moore is a 6-foot-7 guard from St. Louis, Mo., who played his freshman season at Saint Louis. He saw action in 29 games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 rebounds before transferring to Southwest Illinois CC, where he is redshirting this season. Moore was a standout at Riverview Gardens HS for his father, head caoch Gerard Moore, and he averaged 21.1 ppg as a senior.

Next Up
• Tulsa will return home for a 6 p.m. matchup with UConn (7-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 3. The game will mark the opening of the team's participation in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. TU then hits the road again for matchups at Memphis (Jan. 6) and Houston (Jan. 11).

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Tulsa On The Road For New Year's Eve Matchup at Tulane

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Players Mentioned

Geno Artison

Junior Etou

Alex Foree

Corey Henderson Jr.

Jeriah Horne

Martins Igbanu

Darien Jackson

DaQuan Jeffries

Elijah Joiner

Lawson Korita

Curran Scott

Sterling Taplin

Jaleel Wheeler